This coming Wednesday will be a joint meeting with Broadwater Southport Rotary at our usual venue at the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club. As you are all aware, we are looking at joining together to form one club within the next 3-4months. Final details will be needed to be worked out and resolved.
At the Wednesday’s meeting, Wilsons Advisory will be inducted as the Club’s first 'Corporate Member'. Charles Thomasson has organised for four of his staff to be include as part of their corporate membership. Your club's directors believe the addition of corporate membership will help to give the club a new direction and more engagement with the community. Charles, as Director- Membership and President Elect 2020-21, has several other potential corporate members that he expects to be inducted into the club within the next few months.
Also, Charles is in the process of organising a Golf Day as a fundraiser. It is in the planning stages and he would appreciate your help and assistance. The previous one several years ago was extremely successful and raised considerable funds. We will need golfers that you may know and who would like to take part. Also, if you know anyone you know who could be a sponsor, let's hear it! They may be happy to just sponsor a hole. In any case Charles would appreciate your help.
At the Shed this week David Bye, a former member, turned up with three old bikes and two excellent scooters. The scooters should have some real value at the bike sale. They were in very good condition. It was good to see him, and I think it’s time to get him back as an active member. David organised the last Golf day and maybe this may be the way to entice back to the club.
Dr Graham Sivyer (President of Broadbeach Rotary) and David O’Dwyer (builder & member of Broadbeach Rotary) were at the shed on Saturday. Des La Rance spent a considerable amount of time with them going through the building for the X-Ray and Pathology unit at Mauna Hospital on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu.
As indicated in my previous reports the next step will be to travel to Vanuatu basically to confirm the validity of the project and to visit the Island of Pentecost to check the location and positioning of the building. Also, determine how the building can be transported to site, define the projects requirements including the medical needs, power, water, lodging for the construction crew, local builder & helpers and what other items are needed to ensure that the project is successful.
The month of September will see quite a few of our member traveling. Angus is off to Italy & Scotland; Geoff is off for a boat adventure in Europe; Neil is going to Georgia; Paul has just returned from a visit to Malta and I will be away until the 2nd Oct. I am traveling to Europe via Korea, predominately on business to attend the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam and to visit Norway. After that a week’s holiday in Russia and then home.
I won’t be at Wednesday’s meeting, but it looks like it will be a good one. Paul Seymour, our Vice President, will be taking over for the next few weeks.
Our very ownChris Thurtell,the District Youth Exchange Chair, freshly back from the European Rotary Youth Exchange Conference, will present on his experiences there. Not to be missed!
This will also be a joint meeting with the Rotary Club of Broadwater - Southport. Meet at the Surfers Paradise SLSC, pick up your meal in the downstairs bistro and take it upstairs for some fellowship before the formal part of the meeting starts at 07:30 am.
It's on in a month's time: our annual Polio Plus collection at the Runaway Bay Shopping Centre. We have three days, from Wednesday 9th to Friday 11th October inclusive, at our usual spot at the Runaway Bay Shopping Centre. Gerald East maintains the Roster, so make sure you lodge your preferred time slot(s) with him.
For those of you who are young enough to be unfamiliar with Polio Plus: The Polio virus is spread person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine – one which Rotary and our partners use to immunize over 2.5 billion children worldwide. Rotary started a campaign to eradicate Polio in 1985. Since then, the incidence of Polio worldwide has been reduced by 99.9% - yes, it is virtually unknown in most regions in the world. Rotary has invested more than US$ 1.9 Billion (AU$ 2.8 Billion) and countless unpaid volunteer hours to raise these enormous funds. More than 2.2 Billion children in 122 countries have been protected. But until such time as there are no further incidences reported, we need to continue the effort! Rotary is committed to raise some US$ 50 Million per annum, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed to match Rotary's efforts with two dollars for every dollar Rotary raises. More information: click on this link.
And, by the way: if you meet an Anti-Vaxxer, you have my permission to give him/her a good piece of my mind! Ed.
The Rotary Club of Broadbeach has extended an invitation to us to join them at their meeting of Tuesday 1st October: He is Dr Murray Garde, a Consultant Anthropologist/Linguist with extensive specialization in Vanuatu. He is a former Rotarian and has lived in Vanuatu for many years. In view of a potential joint project with the Broadbeach and Gold Coast clubs at Pentecost Island, this would be a very interesting presentation indeed. The next day meeting on Wednesday 2nd October is designated to be a social meeting, so it doesn't interfere with our program.
OK, so it's still a few weeks away, but make sure you will have Friday 1st November free: The incoming Rotary Friendship Exchange team from Seattle & British Columbia will arrive, and we'll give them a hearty Queensland welcome! So you already guessed how? With a good ol' barbie, of course! Geoff Croad has reserved the BBQ area in the gardens of his resort. The group of 12 includes such personalities as Steve, who was closely involved as a consultant in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, David, a (now retired) Navy Captain and Linda, a Fashion Designer who also is involved in a women's shelter and the other 9 are equally highly interesting people to meet. More details as we get closer.
By the way: Would you like to host one of the couples (Friday, Saturday and Sunday night)? One of our originally appointed hosts had to withdraw due to being booked in for surgery just a couple of weeks before the event. This is your opportunity to meet up close with fellow Rotarians from the other side of the world! Please contact Franz Huber.
Our "Minister for Everything" Geoff Croad has registered our club with 'Containers for Cash'; the beneficiary is our Project Shed (Surfers Sunrise Wheelchairs Trust). Our ID / Registration Code is C10199443
So, keep your soft drink bottles, stubby bottles, aluminium cans, milk cartons etc.As a general rule, most drink containers between 150ml and 3L can be returned for a refund under your state’s container deposit scheme. Containers should be empty, unbroken, lid-free and display a 10-cent refund marking on the label. Something like this, but many others are simply marked as suitable for recycling. Note: they must NOT be crushed. See image above what is and what is not accepted. [No Henrietta, your wine bottles are not, but you still can recycle them in the yellow council bins...] How do you go about it? Very straight forward: click on this link www.envirobank.com.au/locations which will show you where you can drop your containers off. That is also where you can pick up their orange coloured Envirobank bags, suitable for 50 containers. When you drop off your bag, simply use the above Registration Code. Make a note of it now. You have started setting all those containers aside, haven't you?
Duty Roster - note: subject to change. Please check every week:
New duty: Fellowship / Project Shed. What does it entail? There are two aspects to this:
a) At the club meeting, your job is to ensure that all members, in particular new members, visitors and guests, and in particular the Guest Speaker, are welcomed, are introduced to other members and are comfortable. If required, explain the usual procedures, e.g. when we have our meal, when the speaker is expected to be at the rostrum etc.
b) This person is also to attend the Project Shed on the following Saturday, as the representative of our club and to assist in the general management.
(Your phone keeps you close to the people far away, but far away from the people close to you...)
The tragedy of bad economic ideas is that once they grab hold of society's imagination, it becomes nearly impossible to persuade people to abandon them. Instead, the ideas must be disproved by experience. Thomas I. Palley, 'Financial Crisis to Stagnation' (2012)
Sat on the tram, doing my daily cryptic crossword puzzle. Next to me sat an elderly lady who was also working on her puzzle. After a while, she asked for my help: “Four letters: It's at the bottom of a bird cage and ends in ‘it’”.
.JPG)
Our very own
It's on in a month's time: our annual Polio Plus collection at the Runaway Bay Shopping Centre. We have three days, from Wednesday 9th to Friday 11th October inclusive, at our usual spot at the Runaway Bay Shopping Centre. Gerald East maintains the Roster, so make sure you lodge your preferred time slot(s) with him.
OK, so it's still a few weeks away, but make sure you will have Friday 1st November free: The incoming Rotary Friendship Exchange team from Seattle & British Columbia will arrive, and we'll give them a hearty Queensland welcome! So you already guessed how? With a good ol' barbie, of course! Geoff Croad has reserved the BBQ area in the gardens of his resort. The group of 12 includes such personalities as Steve, who was closely involved as a consultant in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, David, a (now retired) Navy Captain and Linda, a Fashion Designer who also is involved in a women's shelter and the other 9 are equally highly interesting people to meet. More details as we get closer.
but many others are simply marked as suitable for recycling.
